Hello everybody, I'm hoping to buy an ez complete by the end of summer and I've been reading up on it and watching the videos for a few weeks now. I'm familiar with programming so I follow it all pretty well I just have a couple questions I haven't found the answer to.
OK, ready? Here we go. In the Robosapien video (Have 1 in a box and access to a 2nd BTW ;-) ), The part where he hooks it up to a device to capture the ir output from robo, he said the name of it so quick I didn't catch it. I want to know the name of that device.
My other question is, In the flier video, I want to call it Parrot but I know that's not it, and the Rover video. It appears that DJ connects to the with the ARC to control them. Then adds the ezb to add the ping collision detection. So I'm lead to believe that if one were to acquire one of these devices they could gain instant control of it with just the ARC. I have to be mistaken. It would be to cool if I could make a small investment on a used rover and just use the ARC to get familiarity with it before I pony up the $200 for the ez complete and a couple extras.
Can someone clear things up for me?
Thank you all very much, I've learned alot from reading all the info on this site. I had been researching hobby robotics for about 3 weeks before I found the ezb system. I'm looking forward to try it. It seems to be the most bang for your buck and while I don't mind spending money on my hobbies (My 250 and growing Transformers collection is another hobby of mine that has quite a chunk of change put into it over the years), I do try do like my hobbies to have an acceptable level of quality at the cheapest price I can get it.
Sorry to ramble, this my first post so I figured I'd tell you all a little bit about my self as well.
Thanks again. -Anton
To answer part of that;
ARC can control the Brookstone Rover and AR Parrot Drone without an EZ-B... kinda. ARC will not run very well without being connected to an EZ-B, the EZ-B needn't be attached to or anywhere near the drone or rover but it needs to be connected to ARC to run properly.
I've said it before and I will say it again now, EZ-B is the most bang for your buck and the simplest of them all to use. It's also the most flexible. If you aren't satisfied with it after you buy it I'll buy it off you
It's almost like a money back guarantee
As for the robosapien question, sorry I can't help you there, I'm unable to watch the video at the moment. However, as far as I know you connect a servo cable's signal wire to the IR point on the circuit board... someone else will probably clear this up for you though, there are a few robosapiens on here :)
And welcome to the forum!
@Rich Thanks for the info. That is super awesome. I do realize that the rover wont have all of the functions of the ezb. Man its got alot on board. But it's super cool that you can get comfy with ARC if you come up on one of those rovers.
Just to clear things up, i'm interested in the device DJ used to record/capture the commands. (@DJ what a great idea.) And thanks for the offer but i doubt i'll be selling the ez system. I've always been interested in robotics since I was a child. I just met a guy in this IT specialist program I'm in and he was talking about parallax robots with another guy and it re-peaked my interest again. 5 weeks of research and here we are.
I'm in the process of buying a home right now so my money is tight until the deal closes then new appliances so that's why I say end of summer. I'll be watching the threads though and doing other exploring. I'm really at a point to where I'm not gonna learn a whole lot more until I get my hands on some hardware.
Thanks again. :-)
That's how confident I was that you will be pleased with the EZ-B :)
I believe he used a logic analyser to find out the IR signals, then programmed ARC so it can emulate those signals and control the robot.
if your just starting out, that device dj uses to snag ir commands. is going to be alittle tricky. but if you do have a programing background if might be easy. i don't remember the name of the device. sorry
It's a Saleae Logic Analyser
@Rich That's it. I though he was saying saline or something like that. Thank you, it's been bugging me for weeks. I'll be giving that some research time soon.
@Derrick Thanks for the heads up. It seemed similar to an oscillator so that's what leads me to believe I should be able to hack my way through it. It may take some time but I'm pretty lucky when it comes to figuring stuff out. I really enjoy learning just about anything. You might say my biggest hobby is collecting hobbies. I just need new input on a regular basis. I've always wanted to get into robotics and now that I'm well into adulthood and it's pretty affordable, I'm really looking forward to taking this plunge as soon as my finances balance back out.
I'm also lucky enough to have a woman who appreciates my passion for hobbies and knowledge. It makes life easier when you don't have to sneak your money around to maintain your hobbies. I say that because I know some people who have that situation. So, having a supportive mate definitely makes tossing $200 at a new hobby pretty painless.
Thanks again guys for all of your information and advice. You'll be sure to hear more from me, especially as I gain more familiarity with all of it. I really like to help people understand things so I'm looking forward to the day when I have enough experience to contribute back. I'm so anxious for the moment I can order my ez complete. These are going to be some long weeks ahead for me. (I also have $300 reserved for some Transformers coming out this Summer and about 250 of it are unfortunately MUST HAVE ITEMS for me and I've already spent the other 50 :-) )
I came about ezb while researching Aurdino actually. I saw a TED Talks series on inventive innovations or something like that but, one of the Audrion guys (Can't remember his name) was talking about all of the things people were doing with them, like controlling robots. And the finding ezb with all of its compatibility made it a clear choice to be my initial investment.
I can't wait till I can start my adventures in robotics. I'll keep you posted for sure.
So for one last time, Thank you all very much for the help you've given me and others (Because it's saved you from having to help me more than you have already).
-Anton